Local man accused of child abuse

A $10,000 cash-only bond has been issued for Donnie Ray Brown, 35, of Gainesville, in connection with allegations that he tied a 7-year-old child to a chair and hit the child with a belt, bruising the boy, as a form of discipline.

A class D felony charge of abuse of a child has been filed against him. If convicted of the charge, Brown could face up to four years in prison. 

According to the probable cause statement filed in the case by Ozark County Chief Deputy Winston Collins, the officer received a “hotline” call reporting child abuse at 12:31 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 6. 

When Collins met with Missouri Children’s Division investigator Angela Owens at the sheriff’s office, she informed him that she’d received a report of a 7-year-old boy. The boy’s 6-year-old brother also resided in the home, Owens reportedly said. The investigator said the report indicated that Brown, a household member who is romantically involved with the boy’s biological mother, was abusing the child. 

Collins and Owens reportedly made contact with the boy’s biological mother at 1:31 p.m. that day. The mother reportedly told the officer that the boys were inside the home. The investigator went inside and conducted interviews with the children while the officer spoke with the mom, the report says. She reportedly told the officer that Brown regularly disciplines the children, and part of the disciplinary action included Brown using a “cloth-type” belt on the boy. The mother reportedly acknowledged the contusions on the child and said she believed the injuries were the result of the physical discipline, which she thought had occurred five days prior on Aug. 1. 

Collins wrote in the report that he inspected injuries sustained by the boy and “observed a yellowish contusion about the right side of [the boy’s] stomach. Furthermore, I observed discoloring about the right side of the hip of [the boy]. It is probable the discoloring [was] aged contusions overlapping one another causing a cluster of contusions.” 

Collins added that he had photographed the injuries.

At 1 p.m. the next day, Aug. 7, a forensic interview and physical examination were conducted on the two boys. Collins reportedly spoke by phone with the interviewer, who said the 7-year-old reported being “tied and put over a chair while being physically struck by Donnie Brown.” The other boy also described physical discipline he’d received from Brown, resulting in similar or less severe injuries.